


Spoons

by Lady_Therion



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Elriel, F/M, Nessian - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 06:22:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13630485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Therion/pseuds/Lady_Therion
Summary: Nesta and Elain happen upon the most adorable sight.





	Spoons

“What is it?”

Elain pressed a finger to her lips as she led Nesta through the townhouse.

The expression on her younger sister’s face was glowing and not a little mischievous. Nesta smiled, despite herself. Elain never bloomed so brightly than when she was happy. And while the war had hardened them in ways both seen and unseen, it was reassuring to see how some things remained intact. Unbreakable.

They paused at the threshold of a guest room.

“Elain, what—?”

She pressed a finger to her lips once more before gesturing Nesta to peer inside.

So she did, and oh...

Nesta was never one to trill and coo over things like children and small animals. Such displays always made her feel awkward. But there was something about the sight before her that made her drop the iron shield around her heart.

Of course, her mate always had that effect on her.

Her mate, who was now sleeping in a tangle of limbs and wings and warmth and solidness alongside his brother. Her _brother-in-law_ now that Elain and Azriel had recently taken their vows. Mother, above.

“You found them like this?”

Elain nodded. “Don’t they look sweet? It reminds me of us when we were little. Before...”

Yes, _before_.

Before the death of their mother, before their father’s disgrace, there was a time when Nesta and her sisters would sleep as Cassian and Azriel did now. They would reach for each other in the dark, taking comfort in the knowledge that one of them was there. That they would always be there.

It was hatred and bitterness, fear and jealousy that drove them all apart. Nesta was not proud of that part of their past, the past that lay in that tumble-down cottage in the woods. But thinking on it now made her realize how far each of them had come.  

Cassian had told her about this. About he and his brothers would sleep sprawled on top of each other like exhausted pups, the brutality of the day’s training wearing on them. They had fought and bickered with one another as Nesta and her sisters had done. But still, the brothers had found refuge in each other when the world lacerated them with its cruelties. All of that, and they weren’t even bound by blood.

If only Nesta could turn back time.

Sensing her inward distress, her mate stirred awake. Azriel soon followed, his shadows curling around him as he stretched his limbs.  

Cassian regarded her with half-hooded eyes, his night-dark hair free from its knot and scattered across the pillow. How was it possible for him to still make her chest tighten, to still take her breath away, even after all these years?

“Come join us,” he said, his voice husky with sleep.

There was a tug underneath Nesta’s rib, gentle yet insistent. There was a time when the thought of adding herself to such a scene would have made her scoff and seethe. But now she only felt a strange sort of shyness, as if she were interrupting something sacred.

Elain echoed her thought. “We didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“We’ll sleep better now that you’re here,” said Azriel, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips. Then he mirrored Cassian by extending a hand, the invitation clear to both her and her sister.

Perhaps the Night Court _had_ tamed Nesta in some way, because she could not resist following Elain as they both crawled into bed, in between the two brothers. How the bed was able to accommodate all four of them, Nesta would never know. But right now, she was far too content to think too hard on it. She supposed she should thank Rhys for his taste in ostentatious furniture.

“Long day?” asked Nesta, as Cassian leaned into her neck to breathe in her scent.

“Long. Hellish. It's better now that you’re here,” he said. Then he kissed her forehead and the freckles across her nose, before turning her chin to claim her lips. It was all very chaste compared to the kinds of kisses they usually gave one another when alone. And while Nesta did value their privacy, somehow it didn’t seem so terrible for her to show affection in front of her family.

“Yes, much better,” added Azriel. He slid an arm around Elain’s middle, pulling her close so that he could also press a similar trail of kisses on her cheek and below her ear, before whispering something to her that made her blush.

They each settled into one another then. Light and shadow. Fire and steel. The darkness of their wings enveloped all, tucking them inside a solid wall of strength more soothing than any blanket. And as Nesta fell asleep in her mate’s arms, her sister and her own mate drifting off beside them, she decided that there was no need for her to turn back time.

She only needed to move forward.

* * *

It was a little over an hour later when Feyre walked by the room and grinned.

Such a strange and yet peaceful tableau. Rhys’ brothers. Her sisters. Their _family_ all together, wrapped in each other, side by side. The fading light of the afternoon softened the scene, throwing the loving embraces between the mated pairs into a deeper relief.

A painting came into her mind then, the corner of her mouth lifting when she thought of the perfect name.

She would call the painting: spoons.


End file.
